DR. THOMAS C. PESACRETA,Married with two small, and annoying but wonderful children.

POSITION: Director, USL Microscopy Center; Assistant Prof. (tenure 1994); graduate faculty.

ADDRESS: Microscopy Center and Biology Dept., Univ. of Southwestern Louisiana, PO Box 42451, Lafayette, LA 70504-2451.

COMMUNICATION PORTS: 318-482-5769 (laboratory phone)/5233 (office phone), 235-4019 (home phone), FAX - 318-482-5834, EMAIL TCP9769@USL.EDU.

EDUCATION:

B.S., Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, 1975.

Ph.D., Botany, Cornell University, Ithaca, 1982.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

American Society for Cell Biology.

American Society of Plant Physiologists

Botanical Society of America

HONORS AND AWARDS: Maria Moors Cabot Foundation Fellowship, Harvard University, 1985-87.

GRADUATE ADVISOR: Dr. M.V. Parthasarathy (telephone 607-255-1734), Cornell University, Section of Plant Biology, Ithaca, New York, 1977-1982.

POST-DOCTORAL EXPERIENCE:

1. Univ. of California, Davis, 1982-85, with Dr. W.J. Lucas (telephone 916-752-1093), Dept. of Botany.

2. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1985-88, with Drs. D. Branton and D. Kiehart (telephone 617-495-2685), Dept. of Cellular and Developmental Biology.

GRADUATE STUDENTS AT USL: (for which I am, or have been, the committee head)

1. Durand, John M. - M.S., Biology 1993. Thesis title - Analysis of structural and biochemical characteristics of stamens of the Asteraceae.

2. Guo, Jie - M.S. Biology 1996. Thesis title - Isolation of phosphatases from the inner epidermis of onion bulb scales

3. Liyun, Liu - Ph.D. candidate, Biology. Research topic - Molecular biology of onion cytoskeletal proteins.

4. Niandong, Liu - Ph.D. program, Biology. Research topic - Analysis of acid phosphatases in onion.

5. Zhou, Juhua - Ph.D. program, Biology. Research topic - Myosin in orchids.

6. Prospective student - Mrs. Lisa Carlson who is an honors program undergraduate student working in my laboratory and who is a co-author of my recent paper in Planta, has indicated to me that she will apply for graduate status to continue her work with the atomic force microscope.

GRANTS AWARDED:

1. LOUISIANA EDUCATIONAL QUALITY SUPPORT FUND, Characterization and imunolocalization of plant myosin, 1989 - 1992, $81,000.00, PD.

2. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, Cuticle elasticity and viscoelastic properties of thistle staminal filaments, 1992 - 1993, $115,000.00, co-PI with 3 others.

3. LOUISIANA EDUCATIONAL QUALITY SUPPORT FUND, Integrated Engineering of Injection Molding Processes, 1993-1995, $167,752.00, co-PI with 3 others.

4. LOUISIANA EDUCATIONAL QUALITY SUPPORT FUND (Equipment Enhancement), An atomic force microscope for materials science, 1994, $58,048.00, PD.

5. UNITED STATES DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, Modeling of wood fiber based composites using individual fiber properties, 1996-98, $86,000.00, co-PI with one other.

6. UNITED STATES FORESTRY SERVICE, Atomic force microscopy of wood fibers. 1996-7. $5,000.00. PI.

7. UNITED STATES DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE. Analysis of cotton fiber surface structure by atomic force microscopy. 1997-1998. $19,950.00. PI.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Atomic Force Microscopy of plant cell walls - I have, during the last two years, begun to use our newly purchased AFM to analyze surface roughness of natural materials. We have just completed a ground-breaking quantitative examination of the surface roughness of cotton fibers. We are continuing these investigations and are meeting with industry representatives and the USDA to begin a collaborative project.

Contractile plant organs - Certain plant cuticles have proven to be highly viscoelastic structures which store the energy created by turgor pressure and then use the energy to enact filament contraction. This heretofore unsuspected role for the cuticle makes it clear that the cuticle is a significant mechanical component of the plant cell wall. Our present research is aimed at understanding the mechanical properties of thistle cuticles with the atomic force microscope, and identifying the location of biopolymers that are essential for viscoelasticity by digesting away specific portions of the cuticle with enzymes.

Protein and molecular biology of phosphate ester hydrolyzing enzymes - Both of my graduate students are studying enzymes that utilize phosphate ester substrates in cells. One of these, acid phosphatase, is a ubiquitous constituent that may control the intracellular inorganic phosphate levels. We have made the startling discovery that this enzyme is activated by cytoskeletal proteins. The other enzyme is myosin, a key player in contractile activity. We are currently generating antibodies to specific portions of the myosin molecule and will use them to localize each of the several myosins that exist within each cell.

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (in chronological order)

1. Byrne, J.M., T.C. Pesacreta and J.A. Fox. 1977. Development and structure of the vascular connection between the primary and secondary root of Glycine max (L.) Merr. Amer. J. of Botany 64:946-959.

2. Byrne, J.M. , T.C. Pesacreta and J.A. Fox. 1977. Vascular pattern change caused by a nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in the lateral roots of Glycine max (L.) Merr. Amer J. of Botany, 64:960-965.

3. Parthasarathy, M.V. and T. C. Pesacreta. 1980. Microfilaments in plant vascular cells. Canadian J. of Botany 58(7): 807

4. Pesacreta, T.C., W. W. Carley, W. W. Webb and M.V. Parthasarathy. 1982 . F-actin in conifer roots. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79:2898-2901.

5. Pesacreta, T.C. and M.V. Parthasarathy. 1984. Microfilament bundles in the roots of a conifer, Chamaecyparis obtusa. Protoplasma 125: 173-184.

6. Pesacreta, T.C. and M. V. Parthasarathy. 1984. Improved staining of microfilament bundles in plant cells for high-voltage microscopy. J. Microsc. 133(1): 73-77.

7. Pesacreta, T.C. and W.J. Lucas. 1985 Presence of a partially coated reticulum in angiosperms. Protoplasma 125:173-184.

8. Pesacreta, T.C. and W.J. Lucas. 1986 Presence of a membrane coat and a coated vesicle-associated reticulum of membranes: their structure and possible interrelationships in Chara corallina. J. Cell Biol. 98: 1537-1545.

9. Pesacreta, T.C., A. B. Bennett and W. J. Lucas. 1986. Spectrophotometric and cytochemical analyses of phosphatase activity in Beta vulgaris L. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 34: 327-338.

10. Lucas, W.J., D.W. Kiefer, and T.C. Pesacreta. 1986. Influence of culture medium pH on charasome development and chloride transport in Chara corallina. Protoplasma 130:5-11.

11. Thomas C. Pesacreta, Timothy J. Byers, Ronald Dubreuil, Daniel P. Kiehart and Daniel. Branton. 1989. Drosophila spectrin: The membrane skeleton during embryogenesis. J. Cell Biol. 108:1697-1709.

12. Kiehart, D.P., A. Ketchum, P. Young, D. Lutz, T.C. Pesacreta, S. Inoue, and T.-L. Chen. 1990. Contractile proteins in Drosophila development. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 582:233- 251.

13. P. Young, T.C.Pesacreta, and D.P. Kiehart. 1991. Cytoplasmic myosin in Drosophila. Development 111:1-10.

14. Marquez-Sterling, N., I.M. Herman, T. Pesacreta, H. Arai, G. Terres, M. Forgac. 1991. Immunolocalization of the vacuolar type H-APTase from clathrin coated vesicles. Eur. J. of Cell Biol. 56:19-33.

15. Pesacreta, T.C., V.I. Sullivan, K.H. Hasenstein, and J.M. Durand. 1991. Thigmonasticity of thistle staminal filaments. I. Involvement of a contractile cuticle. Protoplasma 121: 54-64.

16. Pesacreta, T.C., V.I. Sullivan, and K.H. Hasenstein. 1993. The connective base of Cirsium horridulum (Asteraceae): Description and comparison with the viscoelastic filament. Amer. J. Bot. 80:411-418.

17. Hasenstein, K.H., T.C. Pesacreta, V.I. Sullivan. 1993. Thigmonasticity of thistle staminal filaments II. Mechano-elastic properties. Planta 190:58-68.

18. Barnett, J.P. and T. C. Pesacreta. 1993. Handling longleaf pine seeds for optimal nursery performance. Southern Jour. of Applied Forestry 17:180-187.

19. Pesacreta, T.C., V.I. Sullivan and M. DeVore. 1994. The connective base and filament of Acicarpha tribuloides (Calyceraceae). Amer. J. Bot. 81:753-759.

20. Sullivan, V.I., T.C. Pesacreta, J.Durand, and K.H. Hasenstein. 1994. A survey of autofluorescent patterns observed in the connective base epidermis in species of Asteraceae. Amer. J. Bot. 81:1119-1127.

21. Pesacreta, T.C. and T. Stuessy. 1996. Taxon 45:473-485. Autofluorescent walls of connective bases in anthers of Barnadesioideae (Asteraceae) and systematic implications.

22. Pesacreta, T.C., Carlson, L.C., and Triplett, B.A. 1997. Atomic force microscopy of cotton fiber cell wall surfaces in air and water:quantitative and qualitative aspects. Planta 202:435-442.

23. Guo, J. and Pesacreta, T.C. 1997. Purification and characterization of an acid phosphatase from the bulb of Allium cepa L. var. Sweet Spanish. J. of Plant Physiology (in press).

1. Pesacreta, T.C. and W.J. Lucas. 1986. Phosphatase activities in Beta vulgaris leaves. In Phloem transport. Eds Cronshaw, Lucas and Giaquinta. pp 135-144. A.Liss, N.Y.

2. Pesacreta, T.C. and M.V. Parthasarathy. 1987. Developmental ultrastructure in gymnosperms. In Cell and tissue culture in forestry. Eds Bonga, J.M and D.J. Durzan. pp. 353-351. M. Nijhoff Dordrecht.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE: Most microscopy and associated preparative techniques, image analysis, immunocytochemistry, autoradiography, phosphatase and zinc-iodide histochemistry, SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing, gel filtration, ion exchange chromatography, western blotting, northern blotting, screening cDNA libraries, PCR, DNA sequencing, electroelution of proteins from gels, ultracentrifugation, immunization and bleeding of rabbits and mice, monoclonal antibody production, spectrophotometric assay of proteins, spectrophotometric assay of phosphatase and ATPase reaction products, protein isolation from brain, liver, corn, and onions, protein concentration, immunoprecipitations, solid-phase immunobinding assays, affinity purification of antibodies, thin-layer chromatography of oligosaccharides.